Semi-Active Vibration Controls of Flexible Structures via Adaptive Materials

摘要

The objective of this research is to develop, validate and evaluate novel semi-active and active-passive hybrid structures for real-time vibration suppressions. These types of structures normally require less power than the purely-active systems. Also, since energy is almost always being dissipated, they are more stable than the active approach in other words, they have the advantages of both the passive (stable, low power requirement, fail-safe) and active (high performance, feedback actions) systems. In this research, the Penn State researchers investigated four types of adaptive structure configurations using electrorheological (ER) fluids and piezoelectric materials: ER dampers, semi-active piezoelectric networks, active-passive hybrid piezoelectric net-works, and active constrained layer damping treatments. New actuator concepts have been created, and novel control/design methodologies have been developed. The results show that the semi-active and active-passive hybrid configurations are indeed very effective in controlling structural vibrations.